


Reunions in the City of Chains

by Sixylicious



Series: Halla, Hawk, and Fox [9]
Category: Dragon Age II, Dragon Age: Origins
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-04
Updated: 2015-08-04
Packaged: 2018-04-12 23:10:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,488
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4498266
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sixylicious/pseuds/Sixylicious
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After fleeing Ferelden, Valythari Mahariel finds herself spending some time in Kirkwall where familiar faces abound.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Reunions in the City of Chains

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted on my Dreamwidth. This takes place during 9:34 Dragon, early in Act 2.
> 
> At the end of Awakening, Valythari reluctantly gave the order to destroy Amaranthine in the hopes that she could save Vigil's Keep. It worked, but the keep took heavy losses anyway. As survivors of Amaranthine began to surface, the guilt became too much. This is why she left Ferelden.

Kirkwall's alienage was a strange place, though it was certainly nicer than the one in Denerim. Valythari lingered in the courtyard, her gaze drawn to the vhenadahl. Since leaving Ferelden, she'd found herself drawn more often to alienages. With her vallaslin hidden, she could blend in among the city elves even if it felt strange to be living somewhat of a lie. That was what she wanted at the moment, though, to hide from her fame as Hero of Ferelden and try to start her life over as best she could.

Her thoughts drifted briefly to her lover, who she assumed was somewhere in Antiva at the moment. They traveled together the majority of the time, but Zevran had asked that she stay behind this time. He was hunting a Crow Guildmaster, and while the assassin knew his lover could defend herself, he also knew she grew weary of traveling. Valythari had agreed to stay in Kirkwall, knowing a close friend of theirs was nearby and could assist her if needed. Still, being parted from Zevran was difficult. She hadn't liked it during Amaranthine and she didn't enjoy it now.

Humming drew her attention as a familiar figure appeared from a nearby home. It had been four years since Valythari had left her clan, but some things could never be forgotten. What was Merrill doing here? Did that mean the clan was nearby?

"Merrill? Lethallan, is that you?" she asked.

Merrill looked up, seeming confused at first. The city elves never spoke to her, but this newcomer had called her lethallan. She couldn't be Dalish though, her face was unmarred. "Do I know you?"

"I suppose you wouldn't recognize me like this." Valythari uncorked her canteen, using some of the water to wipe her face and reveal her vallaslin. "It's me, Valythari."

Merrill's eyes lit up and she closed the distance between them, drawing her long lost clanmate into a hug. "It's so good to see you! What brings you to Kirkwall? I thought you would still be in Ferelden?"

Valythari returned the hug, unable to keep a smile off her face even as Merrill brought up the one thing she wanted to forget. "It's a long story, lethallan... Is there somewhere else we could talk? I'd rather not discuss it out here."

"Of course, of course." Merrill said. She ushered Valythari into her home. "Make yourself at home, please."

"You live here now?" Valythari asked. She hadn't heard anything from the clan in three years, not since Ashalle had come to see her after the defeat of the Archdemon.

"I do. The Keeper and I... we got into a disagreement," Merrill admitted. Valythari seemed confused, but she didn't speak. Merrill would explain when she was ready. "I'd rather not talk about it, if that's alright. Why are you here?"

Valythari sighed, her gaze drifting away. "I couldn't stay in Ferelden... Everywhere I went, the looks, especially after Amaranthine... I started hiding my vallaslin so I wouldn't be recognized, but nothing worked. It was like everyone forgot I saved them from the Blight. There were so many threats on my life. So I named my friend the Warden-Commander and then vhenan and I left. Alistair was upset at first, but he understood. I couldn't stay. I wasn't helping anything by staying; I was making it worse."

"And you came to Kirkwall?" Merrill asked. She was curious. Valythari had referred to someone as vhenan, the same thing she'd always called Tamlen when she didn't think anyone was around to hear. Had she found someone to lean on? Merrill hoped so. Tamlen's disappearance had been hard on the entire clan, but Valythari had been closest to him and had certainly taken it the hardest.

"Not directly, but eventually yes. We've traveled a lot through Antiva and Rivain. We've spent some time here, vhenan has some friends in Kirkwall. I'm staying with one of them. Do you know the Hanged Man?"

"I do! A friend of mine lives there. I should introduce you, will you be here long?"

Valythari smiled and nodded. "A while. Vhenan is back in Antiva, but I'm tired of traveling. I'd like to stay."

"Then I'll definitely introduce you," Merrill decided. "I've made a few friends here and the Hanged Man is where we all get together."

"Alright, I'd like to meet more people here," Valythari replied. "Can you introduce me just as your clanmate though? I don't want to be known as the Hero of Ferelden here."

Merrill nodded understandingly. "Of course, lethallan. Anything to make you feel at home here."

\-----

The pirate queen was a familiar sight in the Hanged Man, familiar and easy to spot. Merrill went straight over, greeting her with a smile. "Isabela!"

"Kitten, hello!" Isabela called back. She soon spotted the other elf at Merrill's side, recognizing her even though Valythari had hidden her vallaslin again before leaving the alienage. "Ah, there you are. Zevran would have a fit if he knew you kept wandering off like this," she teased, her hands on her hips in a gesture that she surely meant as provocative.

Valythari laughed, the sound almost a surprise. Had she laughed since Zevran left her here? "Only that he didn't get to help kill whoever lays a hand on me," she teased back. "Lethallan, you know Isabela?"

"She's one of my friends here," Merrill answered. "Is she the one you're staying with?"

"She is. Vhenan introduced us back in Denerim," Valythari explained.

Isabela motioned them over to the bar where they could all sit down. "Alright, now how do you two know each other? Sounds like you have some explaining to do."

They explained the story, Valythari leaving out the parts she wasn't comfortable addressing and Merrill doing the same. The Dalish mage didn't know how Valythari would react to the eluvian she was building, so she wouldn't bring it up. Neither would Valythari explain precisely how she and Isabela knew each other, that Zevran had introduced them during the Blight or that the pirate queen and her lover had been lovers at some point. She did hint to Merrill that Isabela knew her identity as the Hero of Ferelden, but she wouldn't say it outright. Evidently Isabela knew not to bring it up either.

"Well then," Isabela remarked once the story-telling was over. "Kitten, what do you say to coming along and introducing Valythari to some of our other friends. Zevran won't be back for a few weeks at least and she needs to do more than just sit in her room upstairs."

Valythari shook her head, unable to keep from smiling. "I told you, Bela, I'll be fine."

"Nonsense. Come on, there's plenty of people here you should meet."

\-----

After searching around for a while, Isabela concluded that most of their companions must be traveling outside the city. So she took Merrill and Valythari to the entrance to Lowtown, where they could sit and chat for a while. Merrill filled her clan-mate in on most of what had happened in her absence, and Valythari told some tales of her time fighting the Blight. Isabela interjected when needed with some of her many stories of pirating. Voices could be heard all around them, of Lowtown residents doing some shopping or simply passing through, some dockworkers, and then a group that caught Merrill and Isabela's attention immediately. A human, the staff on her back marking her a mage, a dwarf with a crossbow over his shoulder, and a tall elven man marked with silvery white lines Valythari recognized as lyrium appeared and began to descend the steps. 

Hawke sighed. "I'm worried about him. Varric, have you heard anything?"

The elf scoffed, cutting off anything the dwarf would have said in response. "Of course."

Hawke leveled him with a glare. "You may not like him, Fenris, but Anders is a friend. I worry about my friends."

"And here they are," Isabela said, interrupting what she knew would turn into an argument. "Hawke, Varric, Fenris, this is Valythari, a friend of mine from Denerim."

"Friend or...?" Varric asked, a grin flitting across his face.

"Just a friend, not for lack of trying," the pirate joked.

Valythari shook her head and laughed. "She has tried, but we're just friends. Though I'm sure vhenan wouldn't mind if I took you up on that offer, Bela."

"Now now, don't give me ideas," Isabela teased, grinning wickedly. 

Hawke laughed. Evidently she had been on the receiving end of Isabela's flirtations as well. "Good to meet you, Valythari, but I need to be going."

"All worried about the abomination," Fenris muttered, pushing past the group. He vanished into the Hanged Man, Isabela, Varric, and Merrill following shortly behind.

"You mentioned someone named Anders?" Valythari asked as Hawke turned away. "Blond, mage, fond of cats?"

Hawke smiled and nodded. "That's him. You know him?"

"I do. Mind if I come along?"

"Sure. He needs as many friends as he can get right now." The mage let out a sigh and turned toward Darktown.

"What happened?" Valythari asked. Alistair had kept her as informed as he could, but when Anders had fled Vigil's Keep the Wardens had been unable to track him down. She had hoped she would be able to find him, but Kirkwall was the last place she had expected to do so.

"Too much. He'll tell you what he wants to explain when we get to the clinic... provided he'll talk to me," Hawke said. "My name is Seren, if you're wondering. Everyone just calls me Hawke."

They talked as they walked, Hawke telling her more about Kirkwall and the group of friends they somehow already shared. When they descended into Darktown, Valythari took it in with sadness in her gaze. This was where Anders lived now? She hadn't been in this part of the city before. She tended to stay in Lowtown, venturing into Hightown only when she needed supplies the Lowtown market couldn't provide. Most of the Fereldan refugees still lived in the Undercity, even four years after arriving in Kirkwall. Seren was one of the few who had been able to move up in the world. The mage navigated the twists and passages with ease, Valythari following behind and making mental notes so she would be able to find her way again. She'd always had an excellent sense of direction, even in the Deep Roads.

Seren eventually stopped and pushed open a door, revealing a makeshift clinic. A familiar blond man stood over a cot, his hands glowing softly as he healed the injured man lying there. Valythari watched, her expression mostly unreadable. That was Anders, just as she remembered him. He'd used that same spell on her often enough, fighting darkspawn around Vigil's Keep. She wondered briefly what had happened to Ser Pounce-a-lot. Valythari almost missed the cat too.

Anders looked up from his healing as he finished, the color draining from his face as he noticed the elf standing there. Valythari was wearing simple leather armor in the Antivan style, not her Dalish armor or her Warden armor, but Anders still recognized her immediately even with her vallaslin hidden. She'd started covering it before she fled the Wardens, after all.

"Hello again," she said.

"Valythari..." He turned as if intending to flee, but the elf was by his side in a moment, gripping his arm so he couldn't get away. Seren watched in awe. Nothing about Valythari's appearance hinted that she could move like that. It seemed the young elven woman was a mystery.

"Don't you dare run from me." Grey eyes flashed with determination that Anders recognized immediately. It was the same determination she had always shown as Warden-Commander.

"You must know what I am now. Alistair... he would have told you," the healer murmured, averting his gaze.

"And you think that would make a difference to me? You saved my life countless times. Why would you merging with Justice have any effect on that?" Valythari retorted.

Anders sighed. "My anger... it's corrupted him. He's not just Justice anymore, Val. He's Vengeance." He turned his gaze back toward the door, finally taking notice of Seren standing there. "Ah, Hawke... My apologies. I didn't see you."

"It's okay," she responded, taking a step forward. It had almost felt like she was intruding before. How did Anders and Valythari know each other? "Are you alright?"

The healer let out another sigh and moved to sit on the nearest cot. "Neither of you will take no for an answer."

Valythari seated herself at his side, resting a hand on his shoulder. Seren watched awestruck as Anders didn't even tense. He'd always told her that he wasn't fond of being touched. "You are not an abomination," the elf reassured him. "And even if you were, that would change nothing."

Seren nodded and sat on his other side. "She's right. We're here for you, Anders. Let us help you."

"You're both too stubborn," he sighed.

"Vhenan taught me well," Valythari said, her tone joking. It got a laugh out of Anders, something Seren had rarely heard before. Wherever this elf had come from, she and Anders were obviously quite close.

"That and everything else you went through," he responded.

Valythari only smiled, though both others noticed it didn't reach her eyes. "When the world wants you dead, you learn to adapt. Trust only those who prove they mean you no harm."

"I can't promise that anymore, Val," Anders murmured.

"I believe in you. You can't have forgotten Nathaniel already. Remember I'm quite good at changing the minds of those who do wish me ill."

She was teasing again. Seren was surprised when Anders responded.

"I do remember that. Not sure what the others thought of that stunt," he joked back.

Valythari shrugged in response. "It worked."

"How did the two of you meet?" Seren asked.

"It was back in Ferelden," Anders answered. He'd been there when Valythari had resigned her titles and all but left the Wardens. With her vallaslin covered, he knew she didn't want to be identified as the Hero of Ferelden. Seren frowned at the evasiveness, but she wouldn't get a chance to speak before Valythari did.

The elf let out a soft laugh. "Several years ago, when we were both different people. I seem to be in the habit of owing my life to apostates." At Seren's curious look, she continued. "A good friend and I were at Ostagar. We'd have died, if it wasn't for two Witches of the Wilds."

"Huh," Seren murmured. "My brother was at Ostagar, in the King's army. He barely escaped. How did you?"

Valythari turned her gaze off to the south, seeming for a moment to be looking past the clinic walls and even into the past. "Flemeth," she said simply.

That caught Seren's attention. "Flemeth? She helped my family escape Lothering."

"And her daughter saved my life in Denerim," Valythari mused. "Curious."


End file.
